Formation The Perfect Tense in French is formed of two parts: i) an AUXILIARY VERB ii) a PAST PARTCIPLE The auxiliary verb is always the present tense of either AVOIR or ETRE. The past participle is formed from the verb being used in the sentence, as explained below.
AVOIR verbs Auxiliary verb is the present tense of avoir: j'ai tu as il a nous avons vous avez ils ont
Regular Verbs form their past participle in the following ways:
ER Verbs
RE Verbs
IR Verbs
jouer = joué
vendre = vendu
finir = fini
Thus, when we put it all together, we end up with sentences like:
J'ai joué au tennis. (I played tennis / have played tennis) Mon frère a vendu son vélo. (My brother sold his bike / has sold his bike) Elles ont fini les devoirs. (They finished / have finished the homework) Nous avons regardé un très bon film à la télé. Tu as attendu un autobus ou un train? Vous avez choisi, Madame?
IRREGULAR VERBS:
A number of verbs do not form their past participle following the rules above. These need to be learned separately, and the main ones as as follows:
e.g. J'ai ouvert mes cadeaux après le petit déjeuner. Nous avons fait de la natation au centre sportif. Pierre et Paul ont lu un bon livre.
ETRE VERBS
A number of verbs take ETRE as their auxiliary verb instead of AVOIR. The Auxiliary verb is therefore the present tense of ETRE: je suis tu es il est nous sommes vous êtes ils sont
The main verbs involved here are as follows. They often come in opposites, and there are a few irregulars to look out for:
aller = allé
venir = venu
entrer = entré
sortir = sorti
arriver = arrivé
partir = parti
descendre = descendu
monter = monté
naître = né
mourir = mort
rester = resté
tomber = tombé
retourner = retourné
rentrer = rentré
revenir = revenu
There is one further point to bear in mind here. Verbs taking être as an auxiliary verb need to agree with their subject. If the subject of the sentence is feminine, we add an "e", and if the subject is plural we add an "s". The verb aller can therefore have the following forms:
(m = masculine, f = feminine)
je suis allé (m)
je suis allée (f)
Tu es allé (m)
Tu es allée (f)
Il est allé
Elle est allée
Nous sommes allés (m or mixed)
Nous sommes allées (f)
Vous êtes allé (m singular)
Vous êtes allée (f singular)
Vous êtes allés (m or mixed plural)
Vous êtes allées (f plural)
Ils sont allés
Elles sont allées
Or, summarised more simply, as follows, whereby we can add agreements as necessary:
je suis allé (e)
Tu es allé (e)
Il est allé
Elle est allée
Nous sommes allé (e) (s)
Vous êtes allé (e)(s)
Ils sont allés
Elles sont allées
e.g. Je suis allé au cinéma hier soir. Nous sommes partis à 8h30. Vous êtes restés à la maison hier soir? Elle est venue chez nous le weekend dernier.
Reflexive Verbs in the Perfect Tense
ALL reflexive verbs take ETRE as their auxiliary verb, and consequently their past participle also needs to agree. The reflexive pronoun goes before the auxiliary verb. The verb "se coucher" looks like this in all its forms with possible agreements where needed:
je me suis couché (e)
Tu t'es couché (e)
Il s'est couché
Elle s'est couchée
Nous nous sommes couché (e) (s)
Vous vous êtes couché (e)(s)
Ils se sont couchés
Elles se sont couchées
A few examples: Lundi matin je me suis levé à six heures. Ma mère s'est dépêchée pour ne pas être en retard. Marie et Claire se sont coiffées avant de sortir.
Use of the Perfect Tense: The perfect tense is used to talk about things that you did in the past on one occasion which are completed, and no longer happening now. To compare this to the use of the Imperfect, checkout the Imperfect Explanationhere.
Formation
The Perfect Tense in French is formed of two parts:
i) an AUXILIARY VERB ii) a PAST PARTCIPLE
The auxiliary verb is always the present tense of either AVOIR or ETRE. The past participle is formed from the verb being used in the sentence, as explained below.
AVOIR verbs
Auxiliary verb is the present tense of avoir:
j'ai
tu as
il a
nous avons
vous avez
ils ont
Regular Verbs form their past participle in the following ways:
IR Verbs
Thus, when we put it all together, we end up with sentences like:
J'ai joué au tennis. (I played tennis / have played tennis)
Mon frère a vendu son vélo. (My brother sold his bike / has sold his bike)
Elles ont fini les devoirs. (They finished / have finished the homework)
Nous avons regardé un très bon film à la télé.
Tu as attendu un autobus ou un train?
Vous avez choisi, Madame?
IRREGULAR VERBS:
A number of verbs do not form their past participle following the rules above. These need to be learned separately, and the main ones as as follows:
comprendre = compris
apprendre = appris
e.g. J'ai ouvert mes cadeaux après le petit déjeuner.
Nous avons fait de la natation au centre sportif.
Pierre et Paul ont lu un bon livre.
ETRE VERBS
A number of verbs take ETRE as their auxiliary verb instead of AVOIR.The Auxiliary verb is therefore the present tense of ETRE:
je suis
tu es
il est
nous sommes
vous êtes
ils sont
The main verbs involved here are as follows. They often come in opposites, and there are a few irregulars to look out for:
There is one further point to bear in mind here. Verbs taking être as an auxiliary verb need to agree with their subject. If the subject of the sentence is feminine, we add an "e", and if the subject is plural we add an "s". The verb aller can therefore have the following forms:
(m = masculine, f = feminine)
Or, summarised more simply, as follows, whereby we can add agreements as necessary:
e.g. Je suis allé au cinéma hier soir.
Nous sommes partis à 8h30.
Vous êtes restés à la maison hier soir?
Elle est venue chez nous le weekend dernier.
Reflexive Verbs in the Perfect Tense
ALL reflexive verbs take ETRE as their auxiliary verb, and consequently their past participle also needs to agree. The reflexive pronoun goes before the auxiliary verb. The verb "se coucher" looks like this in all its forms with possible agreements where needed:A few examples:
Lundi matin je me suis levé à six heures.
Ma mère s'est dépêchée pour ne pas être en retard.
Marie et Claire se sont coiffées avant de sortir.
Use of the Perfect Tense:
The perfect tense is used to talk about things that you did in the past on one occasion which are completed, and no longer happening now.
To compare this to the use of the Imperfect, checkout the Imperfect Explanation here.